Ocean, nature, critters, and recreation

June 2011

Jun 29, 2011

Catch of the week honors belong to three fishermen who recovered a barely-living 25-foot giant squid off Florida on Monday, and to University of Florida researchers who have collected the remarkable specimen for study and possible display.

Giant squid, long depicted as sea monsters and legendary for their epic battles against predatory sperm whales, reside largely in the ocean's light-less depths. Whole specimens are incredibly rare.

"It's so rare to get these specimens and they're such deep-water animals that we don't know much about how they live," said John Slapcinsky, collection manager at the university-run Florida Museum of Natural History. "This specimen provides an excellent opportunity to learn things about these creatures we couldn't find out any other way."

The squid was discovered floating at the surface by Robert Benz, Joey Asaro and Paul Peroulakis at about 11 a.m. Monday. They had been fishing aboard a 23-foot boat and teamed to carefully haul the colossal cephalopod aboard.

"I thought we definitely need to bring it in, because no one's going to believe us if we don't," Benz said in a news release issued by the university. "I didn't want to leave it out there and just let the sharks eat it." (Benz also appears in the WPTV News video posted below.)

Giant squid, or Architeuthis dux, can measure 60 feet long and weigh 1,000-plus pounds. They reproduce only once, after which they can become lethargic and slowly perish. That might have been the case with this particular squid.

Jun 27, 2011

Pro surfer Bethany Hamilton is due to arrive home in Kauai, Hawaii, on Monday evening after suffering an arm injury during a surfing trip in Indonesia.

Hamilton, who lost her left arm to a shark bite in 2003, required 10 stitches to close a deep gash on her bicep, caused by the fin of her surfboard during a fall last week at the remote Mentawai Islands.

She complained of numbness before seeking treatment in Singapore -- the nearest place to obtain adequate medical attention -- before continuing her journey home.

Hamilton, 21, might have suffered some nerve damage but Noah Hamilton, her brother, said via email that Bethany's ulnar nerve is intact and that she enjoys full motor function.

Hamilton's inspirational life story was made into the recently-released hit movie, "Soul Surfer."

Lots of odd creatures come from the sea, and add to the list a one-eyed bull shark fetus that was removed from the body of its captured mother recently off La Paz, Mexico, in the Sea of Cortez.

A brief story about the shark is on the Pisces Sportfishing blog. Pete Thomas Outdoors shared the top image with two shark experts in California and both were skeptical at first, suggesting it was some kind of hoax.

One of them jokingly identified the species as a "Cycloptomus" because of a single eye -- if it is, in fact, an actual eye -- located just above the mouth.

But Tracy Ehrenberg, general manager at Pisces Sportfising, has been in touch with renowned shark expert Felipe Galvan, who has seen the shark and has even produced a paper on the discovery.

The paper is under scientific review. More information will be shared here when it becomes available.

Jun 24, 2011

That was followed by the subhed: "Controversial hunter-rocker modestly vows to slay the mammoth creatures this year."

Now for some perspective. The Patch.com story clearly was posted because of the sensational value of Nugent's claim. Of course the Motor City Madman, as fond as he may be of hunting down wild animals, isn't going to slay any whales.

The rocker/hunter/conservationist made the claim, jokingly, during the Thursday night debut of the Philip Friedman Outdoors radio show, which airs at 9 p.m. on AM 830.

Nugent, an ardent bow-hunter with outspoken beliefs on just about any topic, was asked what he thought about Capt. Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's annual efforts to harass Japanese whalers during their controversial hunts in the Antarctic region.

In other words, Nugent was goaded by Friedman, who knew the rocker does not have a filter and would provide entertaining sound bytes.

It might have surprised some, however, to hear that Nugent would side with the Japanese over minke whale hunts that are condemned by so many nations and individuals. The hunts are carried out in the name of research to get around a loophole in a global moratorium on commercial whaling.

Nuget claimed that minke whales are a renewable resource, like many land critters, and that if the Japanese like to eat whale meat they ought to be able to hunt the whales. (Minke whales are not endangered.)

Watson might counter that fewer Japanese are eating whale meat these days, that a lot of meat is wasting away in freezers and that whale meat contains high levels of mercury. That is, if Watson even cares about what an aging rock star might think about the way Sea Shepherd operates.

Friedman, of course, has extended an open invitation for Watson to appear on his show.

Jun 23, 2011

Capt. Larry Hartmann had never witnessed anything like it: majestic fin whales swarming the 34-foot boat and interacting like playful dolphins as Hartmann and four passengers watched in amazement. At one point a 60-foot whale rolled over like a puppy just beneath the surface alongside the vessel (see video).

This rare event, involving the world's second-largest whale species (blue whales are the largest), occurred Wednesday about 10 miles off Dana Point in Orange County, Calif.

"It's so beyond anything you can even imagine," said Hartmann, a veteran skipper for Dana Wharf Whale Watching. "Typically with fins, it's three breaths and down they go. Nobody has ever had this happen. No way. It's impossible."

Curious vessel approaches involving fin whales are not unheard of, but the type of behavior Hartmann described might make a person think he was referring to much smaller and more gregarious humpback whales.

There were between 6-10 fin whales, each measuring about 60 feet, and at times they'd accelerate as they neared the boat, then dive beneath its hull at the last second. Hartmann and his group were alone until a speed boat arrived. It's crew shut off its engine and the fin whales swarmed that boat.

When the speed boat boat departed, the sleek leviathans returned to the boat Hartmann was piloting. At several points he was concerned for the safety of his passengers because fin whales have been known to breach.

These particular whales remained beneath the surface, however. "The family I took out keeps calling me because they still can't believe what happened," Hartmann said. "It was so surreal to be out there by ourselves, with no wind and with all of this happening."

Sporadic fin whale sightings continue to be made off Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Chris and Monique Fallows of Apex Shark Expeditions recently concluded their annual "Sardine Run" off South Africa's Wild Coast. For several days they followed the northbound migration of vast shoals of sardines, and the many large predators they attract.

Diving alongside and even within these massive bait balls is not for the faint of heart, as Chris Fallows attests.

"It is unbelievable with sharks bashing into you, dolphins herding, then smashing the balls, and gannets attacking from above," says Fallows, a renowned shark expert and marine photographer. "It's simply the most unreal spectacle you could ever imagine throwing yourself into, and at the same time it's amazingly beautiful."

The Sardine Run should be at or near the top of any experienced diver's to-do list. Chris Fallows provided images of this year's run to illustrate the uniqueness and surreal nature of these voyages.

Jun 22, 2011

A casual fishing contest for seven Florida bankers last Saturday turned into an epic struggle between most of the competitors and a 1,000-pound mako shark.

The great predator took a hooked slab of bonito about 16 miles off Elliott Key, whereupon it leaped 10 feet clear of the water before settling in for a deep-water fight that lasted four hours. Five of seven anglers aboard the yacht, Wound Up, took turns handling the rod and reel. (To witness the chaos alongside the boat, see the video.)

Warren Sands, the vessel owner who organized the excursion for graduates of Florida International University, said of the catch: "I've been fishing for 20 years, and tournament fishing for sailfish for 10 years and I've never been involved in anything like this."

Sands fought the mako for the final 30 minutes. The crew used two flying gaffs -- with lines attached -- and one straight gaff to subdue the beast and haul it through the transom door.

John Dudas, captain of Wound Up, said his previous big mako was a 912-pound specimen that had been seen surface feeding on a swordfish.

The 1,000-pound mako, which measured 12 feet, was spotted tailing in the distance. Dudas swung the boat around while mate Robbie Ramirez cast a slab of bonito, using a reel spooled with 50-pound-test line and a 2,000-pound leader used for sharks and marlin.

"Once he saw it, he came charging in on it, and he ate it pretty quick," Dudas said.

Said Dudas of the bankers: "They just love being out there, and to see something that big was very exciting for them, and was really a thrill of a lifetime for them."

A year ago Abby Sunderland made global headlines as the subject of a dramatic rescue effort after her sailboat rolled over and lost its rigging in the remote southern Indian Ocean.

At 16, the fiercely determined adventurer from Southern California had been trying to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone. After her rescue she vowed, someday, to make the voyage again.

But now, at 17, Abby seems to have changed tack. She wants to fly around the world, and is even taking flying lessons while trying to figure out logistics and possible time lines.

Her mother said that's all there is to it at this point. Abby, to be sure, has been extremely busy promoting her book, "Unsinkable," and DVDs, and speaking before various audiences.

But she also is flying a lot, and in her mind is this new dream. And for a Sunderland, as Abby and her older brother and fellow sailor Zac have shown, once a dream takes hold it eventually blossoms into some form of reality.

Zac, as many recall, made it around the world in his sailboat after a 13-month adventure. He became the first person under the age of 18 to complete a solo-circumnavigation, and received a hero's welcome upon his return in July of 2009 to the starting point at Marina del Rey.

Abby's subsequent voyage, on a more treacherous Southern Ocean route, was a struggle most of the way and came to an abrupt end in stormy seas a little more than half way around the planet.

Now she is learning to fly from a family friend and dreams of seeing the world from the air. She revealed this ambition to her hometown newspaper, the Thousand Oaks Acorn.

"Right now I don’t have a boat and I don’t have a sponsor to sail around the world," she explained. "I do have a good flight instructor and flight lessons and people who are going to help pull off a flight around the world, so I think I’m going to stick with that for now."

Her shipwright father, Laurence Sunderland, who drained much of the family savings in support of both sailing excursions, told the Acorn: "She’s an adventurer, but, unfortunately, if that’s what she wants to do, I can’t help her there. I told her, if it’s the Lord’s will, then go for it."

Abby recently posted an item to her blog recalling her rescue a year to the day after the crew of a French fishing boat had plucked her from her damaged 40-foot sailboat, Wild Eyes.

She concluded that post with this passage: "You may support me, you may not, but as long as I live, I know I am going to take every opportunity that comes my way, chase every dream, and do all that I can to help others follow their dreams."

Jun 20, 2011

A Father's Day fishing trip off Homer, Alaska, became more than just a bonding experience as Chad Aldridge, the son, reeled in one of the heaviest Pacific halibut ever caught on rod and reel.

It weighed 350.8 pounds and vaulted the angler into first place in the season-long Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby. It's the sixth-heaviest halibut in the 25-year derby history.

Aldridge caught the barndoor halibut on 80-pound-test line, after a 45-minute struggle, on a chunk of herring. The International Game Fish Assn. lists the 80-pound line class world record as a 413-pound specimen caught in 2002 off Unalaska.

The IGFA lists the all-tackle world record as a 459-pounder caught in 1996 off Dutch Harbor, Alaska. But in all classes the IGFA lists only those two specimens as weighing more than 400 pounds, and only four surpassing the 350-pound mark.

Aldrige, 32, an oil company worker, said he and Ronnie Aldridge (both are pictured above) talked a lot about Father's Day while he was reeling the fish to the surface, and during a marathon struggle to subdue the powerful behemoth and haul it aboard.

"It was great to have him there to watch me bring the fish up," Chad Aldridge said. "He told me it was the biggest fish he had ever seen boated, and he has caught a lot of big halibut over the years."

Besides Ronnie Aldridge, there were two family friends on Chad's 24-foot boat. Chad hooked the fish during the morning's first stop, while reeling in for a planned move to another location.

"All of the sudden my line just stopped, then I felt the head shake so I lifted up fairly hard to set the hook," he explained. "Then it took off and and I thought, 'This is serious.' I knew it was big but thought it could also be a skate, a shark or even a whale."

Since the group had only a single gaff, and because giant halibut improperly subdued have been known to smash the insides of boats and injure anglers, a radio plea for assistance was made. Chad's uncle, who had been fishing nearby, arrived with another gaff and harpoon.

Ronnie Aldridge handled the harpoon honors. Still, another 45 tense and chaotic minutes transpired before the fish was calm enough to be dragged over the rail. "It had the mouth the size of a basketball," Chad recalled. "It took three of us and it was all we could do to lift the fish up and in, and when we did it fell right on top of me."

A great white shark sighting on Sunday off Stinson Beach near San Francisco prompted the National Park Service to restrict water access there through Thursday.

The shark, believed to measure 8-10 feet, was spotted by the crew of a Coast Guard helicopter at the north end of the beach, 200-300 yards from shore. At that size, it would be a juvenile.

Lifeguards reportedly are allowing visitors to wade at Stinson Beach but are preventing them from venturing into or beyond the surf line.

Bay Area waters, particularly island seal rookeries, are home to adult great whites in the fall and winter. At this time of year, however, most have departed for a vast offshore region between the mainland and Hawaii.

White sharks typically feed on fish, not marine mammals, until they reach about 12 feet.

-- Image is generic and not of the white shark spotted off Stinson Beach